The importance of the Acadians’ arrival to and influence on the Teche Area with its rich history never will be lost thanks to the efforts of organizations like the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana.

CODOFIL’s role in preserving and promoting the French language for the past five decades was celebrated in style here Thursday during an event at the Sliman Theater. The 50th anniversary was presented by the Iberia Cultural Resourches Association. It was a special evening saluting the efforts of CODOFIL.

A special guest speaker was widely known Warren Perrin of Erath, whose work in promoting the French culture has been recognized nationally and who also reinvigorates the Cajun pride movement through his Petition of Apology on behalf of the Acadian people to the British government and the Crown for the deportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755. A proclamation was signed in December 2003 decreeing July 28 as the annual Day of Commemoration of the Acadian Deportation.

When Perrin speaks, people listen and they were able to hear him talk about the Acadians on Thursday. He said CODOFIL’s existence and the cultural heritage of Acadians are forever linked.

“I think the takeaway is why the Acadians were so doggedly attached to their language and culture when so many Francophones who came to Louisiana were not. That’s the key to understanding why we have CODOFIL in existence today,” Perrin said at the anniversary event.

He outlined a timeline of the Acadians from their deportation from Canada to resettling in Louisiana, which, he said, was the origin of the Cajun identity today.

Also speaking at the event was Nelwyn Hebert, a highly respected local educator who has a passion for the French and Cajun culture. Hebert, a cancer survivor, said she has a personal attachment to CODOFIL.

“I have a history that goes far back in that matter in that I took French in high school mainly because my mother wouldn’t let me speak French because to us it was known as bad French,” Hebert said.

Many proud Cajun descendants in this community can relate to her story.

“When you find out why CODOFIL came to be you will understand why our parents and grandparents were told our French wasn’t good French,” she said.

CODOFIL was created in 1968 to ensure Louisiana’s French cultural heritage would be maintained and promoted in the state. CODOFIL’s reach includes New Iberia, where North Lewis Elementary School students and others are in the successful French Immersion program. 

Those students demonstrated their knowledge of the French language after the talk by Perrin. Their fluency was proof positive in the benefits of CODOFIL, 50 years later.

DON SHOOPMAN

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR